Who Killed Nora Dalmasso? Here’s Why Police Accused Her Husband and Son — and Who Became a Suspect Nearly 20 Years Later

It’s been almost two decades since Nora Dalmasso was found dead in her home with a cloth belt from a bathrobe double-knotted around her neck. 

Her murder sparked a media circus that incorrectly pointed the finger at multiple suspects, including her husband and son. Though four people were charged in connection with her 2006 killing, all of them were ultimately acquitted, La Nación reported. In 2024, police announced a new suspect in the case, but the statute of limitations has prevented them from prosecuting. 

The police’s alleged mishandling of the case led to public outrage, protests and resignations from multiple officials involved in the investigation. Netflix’s 2025 docuseries The Many Deaths of Nora Dalmasso attempted to answer what went wrong through first-hand testimonies from key players, including the accused. 

“The murder of Nora Dalmasso is one of Argentina’s most infamous crimes, a story that quickly blew up into a media inferno due to its salacious cocktail of sex, class, power and prejudice,” director Jamie Crawford said in a statement. 

She continued, “By chance, I have a personal connection to the community it affected, and nearly 20 years since her death I wanted to seek the humanity behind the headlines, to find out who Nora Dalmasso really was, and how those closest to her survived their decades-long ordeal.” 

Here’s everything to know about Nora Dalmasso’s unsolved murder and why police have yet to bring her killer to justice. 

Who was Nora Dalmasso?

Nora was a 51-year-old wife and mother of two who lived in a gated community called Villa Golf in Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina. She resided there with her husband, prominent physician Marcelo Macarrón, and their two children, then-16-year-old daughter, Valentina Macarrón, and 20-year-old son Facundo Macarrón, who was enrolled in law school.

Two days before her death, the Los Angeles Times reported that she had been out with friends at a nearby restaurant. Her husband was competing in a golf tournament in Uruguay, and her daughter was on a school trip to the U.S.

How did Nora Dalmasso die?

On Nov. 26, 2006, Nora was found dead in her daughter’s bed by a neighbor. She was nude, only wearing her Rolex and the cloth belt of a bathrobe, which was double-knotted around her neck. There was no sign of forced entry or valuables missing, leaving police to believe that the affluent mom knew her killer, per the Los Angeles Times. 

Nora’s cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation by strangulation, per La Nación, and investigators determined she had been killed the previous morning.

The autopsy also showed that she had sex before (or possibly during) the murder, and police said it appeared to be consensual.  

Who was accused of killing Nora Dalmasso?

In June 2007, Facundo was charged with homicide and aggravated sexual abuse in his mother’s death, per the Los Angeles Times. The arrest came after the law student’s boyfriend recanted statements that they had been together at the time of the murder. 

The prosecution also claimed that DNA evidence linked Facundo to the murder, which the family’s defense lawyer, Tirso Pereyra, argued against. She said, “Of course his genetic profile was in the house. The kid lived there.”

He was acquitted six years later. 

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Marcelo was also a suspect in Nora’s murder and was later charged with “qualified homicide due to a relationship, treachery, and price or promise of remuneration.” Prosecutors alleged that he hired a hitman to kill his wife while he was out of town. 

This case went to trial, but Marcelo was also acquitted in July 2022 due to a lack of evidence, per La Nación.

Other suspects in the case included former Córdoba government advisor Rafael Magnasco and local painter Gastón Zárate. They were acquitted as well.

Who killed Nora Dalmasso?

In December 2024, investigators identified a new suspect in Nora’s murder: Roberto Barzola. 

According to La Nación, Barzola had allegedly polished hardwood floors inside the family’s home the week before she died. Though the victim’s family reportedly requested to include him in genetic testing that was completed in 2007, he wasn’t tested until years later. 

Investigators allegedly linked his DNA with fingerprints found on the belt that was tied around the victim’s neck and hair collected from her body. During Marcelo’s trial in 2022, he testified that he went to Nora’s home to work, but he left after his boss failed to answer the door. 

Though Barzola was charged with sexual assault followed by homicide and appeared in court with a defense attorney, he allegedly would not have to serve a sentence if he were found guilty as the statute of limitations has reportedly run out, according to prosecutor Pablo Jávega’s statement in the Netflix documentary.

Jávega told La Nación that he will continue to investigate the case to determine if a new trial can be set.